Jon Evans, head of UK and IE market at EV charging platform Monta, on the £63m boost to public charging infrastructure and three key actions needed to supercharge
Jon Evans, head of UK and IE market at EV charging platform Monta, on the £63m boost to public charging infrastructure and three key actions needed to supercharge consumer confidence and EV uptake.
The UK’s EV landscape is at a critical juncture. With over a million EVs already on British roads and adoption accelerating, fleet and charge point operators, infrastructure providers and government all face a common challenge: can the pace of infrastructure deployment match growing demand?
The Labour government’s announcement of a £63m rollout of EV chargers to premises without driveways, along with NHS fleets and public sector offices, is a welcome signal that electrification remains a national priority. A further £8m has been earmarked to fund the electrification of ambulances and medical fleets, which could increase focus on patient care.
Putting such investment in place has the potential to boost home charging, as well as saving millions in long-stretched funds across the NHS and public services more generally. However, this announcement is just that – potential.
EV drivers, operators and all those inbetween know that real progress depends not on announcements, but on action.
This is a moment to move decisively, from vision to delivery. To achieve this, we must focus on three interconnected pillars: investment, infrastructure and grid readiness.
The £63m allocation is promising, particularly after a period of industry uncertainty. However, the challenge of affordably deploying reliable, widespread EV infrastructure, especially fast chargers and those in rural areas, remains significant. These low-density locations are commercially harder to serve, making public-private cooperation essential.
What’s truly needed is a long-term, scalable approach to financing. That means sustained public investment, incentives to de-risk private capital and a clearer national policy framework to reduce bureaucracy and planning delays.
Countries such as Norway demonstrate what’s possible with coordinated investment over time. With over 440 chargers per 100,000 people compared to just 89 in the UK, the gap is stark.
The UK’s path to EV readiness needs consistent funding and clear delivery timelines, matched by strong regional and private sector partnerships.
For fleet managers, access to reliable, well-placed charging infrastructure can make or break the business case for electrification. Yet in much of the country, charger availability remains unaligned with real-world needs.
This isn’t just a numbers game. It’s about building the right chargers in the right places. Confidence in the network, or ‘charge certainty’, is key to driving adoption. Without this, range anxiety persists, operational planning becomes harder and the shift to EVs risks slowing.
That’s why infrastructure rollouts must be tailored to local conditions. Urban hubs, rural villages and key logistics corridors all have different needs. A one-size-fits-all approach won’t work and planning decisions must consider usage patterns, energy access and grid constraints, ideally informed by data from charge point operators and fleet partners alike.
As we transition to EVs, the charging network must evolve in lockstep with energy infrastructure. Capabilities like dynamic load balancing, peak-time optimisation and software-based demand response are already helping to smoothen energy consumption and reduce pressure on the grid.
At Monta, we’ve seen how software can extend existing infrastructure capabilities by coordinating when and how energy is drawn. However, it’s not a substitute for physical upgrades, and many areas still lack the grid capacity needed to support large-scale charging, especially for time-sensitive commercial vehicle and logistic fleet charging.
Securing grid connections remains a persistent challenge for the sector, with delays stalling infrastructure projects before they even begin. Here, smart software solutions become not just helpful, but essential to bridging the gap while physical upgrades catch up.
Smart systems must be backed by hard investment in grid reinforcement. That means closer collaboration with energy providers, national and regional network operators and local authorities from the off.
Integrating grid capacity planning with rollout strategies can keep bottlenecks at bay; however, rollout cannot wait indefinitely. It’s the national grid’s responsibility to accelerate connection timelines and accelerate power delivery, so sites can align with infrastructure deployment plans.
The £63m announcement represents a launchpad, not a finish line. Fleets nationwide are ready to electrify, but require accessible, functional and future-proofed infrastructure.
Getting this right isn’t just about EVs. It’s about creating a more sustainable, resilient and connected transport network.
The Labour government has taken a positive first step. Now, it must urgently follow up with clear policy, faster deployment and meaningful collaboration across government, industry and energy providers to ensure long-term success.
